


I'm Your A To Z

by diamondcheol



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Gang Leader Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups, Gangs, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Seungcheol a salfy mf, Sexuality Crisis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:48:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22135084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diamondcheol/pseuds/diamondcheol
Summary: How'd we get here? It's quite a story, really. It all started the day Joshua accidentally killed a man at work.That same day, Seungcheol was kicked out of his own gang and Jeonghan ran away from home.-JiHanCheol story inspired by Triple H's 365(also on Wattpad -futures chapter posted there)
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Hong Jisoo | Joshua, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan
Comments: 19
Kudos: 38





	1. Joshua's first (and last) day

Joshua walked into the kitchen of the new restaurant he'd got a job at. He was glad to finally get out of his last one as the coffee shop literally no one went to. This time, he'd scored a job at one of the most famous restaurants in the area so he was excited. Nervous as hell, he smoothed his uniform as he walked up to who he assumed was the head chef and cleared his throat.

**"Hello, um,"** he started and the tall man turned around. Joshua was surprised to see it was a young man seeing he'd expected someone much older.

**"Oh, hey, are you Hong Jisoo?"** the chef asked and held his hand out to shake with a wide smile.

**"Yes, but I prefer the name Joshua."** He shook the man's hand and smiled. **"It's a pleasure to be working here."**

**"I'm Kim Mingyu."** So he _was_ the head chef. **"It's a pleasure to have you here. Junhui can show you around and you can start taking orders whenever you want."**

**"Okay, thank you, sir."** Joshua waited as another tall man walked over -why the hell was everyone tall? He noticed this man didn't look Korean.

**"Hi! I'm Junhui but you can call me Jun,"** the man introduced with a grin and shook Jisoo's hand. **"Come on, I'll show you around and we'll be best friends!"**

**"Don't scare the boy, Jun,"** Mingyu chuckled and walked away.

**"I won't, don't worry, boss."** Junhui swung his arm around Joshua's shoulder -which he did _not_ appreciate but stayed silent about- and walked around the absolutely humongous kitchen.

The kitchen itself was larger than Jisoo's whole apartment. There were different sections separated by shoji-like screens. Each was for a different meal or type of meal, such as lunch and dinner had different sections as well as the vegetarian meals and meals with meat. Everything was so clean and organized. Joshua knew he'd enjoy working at the place.

**"So what made you come work here?"** Junhui asked once they were done with the short tour. Joshua noticed the boy wasn't completely fluent in Korean which confirmed his earlier thought.

**"Well, my old job wasn't paying well enough and I'd gotten bored of it."**

**"I can promise you won't ever be bored of this job,"** he giggled. Joshua had to admit it was cute. **"Are you from around here?"**

**"My family is, yeah. But I was born and raised in America."**

**"Woah, that's so cool! From the loud and crowded pigeon-infested part, the cowboy part, or the really hot part with crazy men?"**

**"None of those."** Joshua grinned at Junhui's explanations of New York, Texas, and Florida. **"I'm actually from hot but crowded Los Angeles, California and I've lived there for about nineteen years."**

**"Oh, so the really cool part that I want to visit,"** Jun laughed. **"I'm from China but I moved a few years ago."**

**"That's so cool,"** the American said. **"What's your first language?"**

**"Mandarin; I'm from Shenzhen."**

They kept asking and answering each other's questions after that. Joshua found Junhui a fun person and was glad he'd have a friend at work. Sadly, though, their conversations had to come to an end when one of the managers had told them to get to work.

Taking orders as a waiter wasn't really entertaining but Joshua didn't mind.

Well, until the day was almost over and a much older man kept staring at him. He didn't think much of it until the man stayed much longer than he should've. The restaurant was almost empty seeing it was nine p.m. on a work night and that man was the only one left.

Joshua reluctantly went over to take the man's empty plate and utensils, avoiding eye contact. He tried his hardest to ignore the sound of heavy breathing and the feeling of a gaze on him. Before he could ask, " _I_ _s there something you fucking need?"_ he felt a hand between his thighs, pinching at them.

He dropped the tray he was holding, only the utensils left in his hand. Joshua glared at the man, who was busy looking at his lower half with a predator-like expression. The now furious boy dropped the fork, only knife left in his hand.

**"Sir, please don't touch me,"** he spoke in a calm but clearly annoyed voice as he hid the knife behind his back.

**"You can't make me listen."** He sounded like a stoner. Joshua felt his hands go up his legs up and reach his backside.

Without thinking, he pulled back and slapped the man. Without wavering, the pervert stood up and reached forward as if he was going to grab Joshua's face. That's what earned him a kick in the balls and a knife that went from his throat and down to his collarbone.

**"Oh, fuck."** Joshua pulled the knife out of his throat as to not leave evidence and ran out of the restaurant.

At that moment, he knew _he fucked up._


	2. Seungcheol almost runs over his high school crush

**“The fuck you mean you’re kicking me out?”** Seungcheol rubbed his temples.  **“I’m your** **_leader.”_ **

**“You** **_were_ ** **our leader,”** Minghao corrected. **“Until we decided through a unanimous vote that I should replace you.”**

**“And what makes you think that’s a good idea?”**

**“Well, it’s obvious you don’t care about the gang anymore,”** Wonwoo answered.

He wasn’t completely wrong. Seungcheol had decided to finish college, due to the pressure from his parents. If he didn’t get his degree, his father would send him to the military early and he didn’t want that. Because of that, he didn’t have the time to look after his gang.

It didn’t mean he didn’t care though. Seungcheol loved being a gang leader. They were his best friends and had each other’s backs. Though most memories consisted of beating people up and shooting, they had made some fun ones together. 

**“And you think Minghao’s going to make a better leader than me?”**

**“Yeah, basically,”** Vernon told him.  **“For weeks now, he’s been doing your job better than you.”**

**“You can’t make me leave though.”** Seungcheol let out a laugh.  **“What are you going to do?”**

**“We’re going to beat you up until you agree to leave,”** Minghao answered.

**“You’re shitting me right now.”**

They were not shitting him.

After multiple punches to the jaw and kicks in the stomach, he surrendered to the younger boys. He made his way to his car and banged his head against the steering wheel. There went his life purpose.

He began to drive home, ignoring his still bleeding mouth. Even though it was late, there were a lot of cars on the main road. Seungcheol decided it’d be faster if he went the way with the broken roads -even if they did have other gangs in the area.

As he was driving, he almost ran into a man running across the street.

He hit the brakes and stepped out of the car, annoyed but saw how scared the man looked. Did he even know where he was?

**“What are you doing out so late?”** Seungcheol wondered. “ **And in such a dangerous place too?”**

**“It’s a long story but can I get a ride?”** the man asked.  **“I’ll pay you.”**

**“No need but I’ll only give you a ride if you tell me your name and story on the way.”**

**“Sure, why not?”**

His name was Joshua and he’d “accidentally” killed a man on his first day at work. It explained his bloody hands and the knife in his hand.

**“You’re interesting,”** Seungcheol stated as he handed the man a towel and hand sanitizer. He knew he liked him already.

**“Thanks, I know. So how was your day?”**

Telling a guy he was a former gang leader probably wasn’t the smartest idea so he lied and made up a story about how he lost his job.

Before he could finish, a man had stepped in front of his car and nearly had gotten run over. 

**“Fuck me in the ass,”** Seungcheol muttered as he stepped out of the car.

The man had already stood up and was standing in place. Aggravated, Seungcheol walked forward and punched the stranger across the face. The stranger only grinned, his cheeks flushed as if he were drunk. The “stranger” was awfully familiar. He held a scary resemblance to a boy Seungcheol was quite fond of in high school.

**“The** **_fuck_ ** **are you doing?”** he shouted and punched him until he fell. **“Do you** **_want to_ ** **die?”**

**“Sure, why not?”** the stranger laughed. It would’ve earned him another blow if it hadn’t been for the hand of Joshua that held Seungcheol’s fist.

**“Stop hurting him so much,”** Joshua said as he helped the stranger stand.

**“Sorry,”** he muttered, more to Joshua than the other man. **“Guess I just needed to take my anger out on someone.”**

**“Can I take him home?”**

**“I guess you can,”** he sighed.  **“Bring him to the car.”**

They had put the stranger in the back seat. The whole ride was filled with the man’s whining and complaints. It was as if he were a child, continuously asking “are we there yet” or “I’m bored.” Definitely drunk. Seungcheol was ready to go insane and drive the car into the river.

But one complaint made him stop.

**“Why didn’t you just leave me to die on the road?”** the stranger began to whine and put his head onto the driver’s seat. That question made Seungcheol’s heart hurt for a short second. No one deserved to think that way. Despite being a former gang leader, he still had  _ some _ human in him.

**“I have morals,”** Seungcheol said. **“What’s your name?”**

**“You have morals but you beat me up.”** The stranger grinned.  **“I’m Jeonghan.”**

It really was him.

**“Nice to meet you, Jeonghan.”** Joshua made the boy sit properly and put his belt on.  **“I’m Joshua and this is Seungcheol.”**

**“Are you dating?”**

Seungcheol snorted but kept his eye on the road.

**“No, we met each other today,”** Joshua told him.

**“You’d be a good couple.”** Jeonghan never stopped talking. **“You’re both hot.”**

**“Thanks, you’re cute too,”** Seungcheol said he pulled into his driveway.

He helped Jeonghan out of the car, who immediately fell against him. God, was he getting on his nerves. Instead of saying anything, Seungcheol walked to the front door, Joshua following not far behind. After unlocking the door, he signalled for Joshua to go first.

**“You sure I can come in?”** he asked.

**“Yeah, no one else is home.”**

After Joshua walked into the house and took his shoes off, Seungcheol went in to put Jeonghan down on the couch.

**“Woah, you own a** **_mansion?”_ ** Jeonghan asked.

**“It’s my parents’ but they’re out of the country,”** he answered.  _ Not that they’re home even when they’re in Korea.  _ **“Don’t get comfortable though, you’re only staying for tonight.”**

**“Hey, Seungcheol?”** Joshua called from the doorway, his phone in hand.  **“Could I stay as well because my roommate has a crap-ton of people over?”**

**“Of course you can.”** Seungcheol smiled.  **“Pick any room you want on the second floor other than the last two at the end of the hallway.”**

**“Thanks, Seungcheol.”** Joshua smiled and walked up the stairs.

Jeonghan was laying on the couch, facedown, as if it were his own house. He didn’t even take off his shoes. How  _ annoying _ could one person be? It made Seungcheol wish he really did run Jeonghan over.

**“Get up and go pick your room unless you want to sleep on the couch.”**

After hearing that, Jeonghan immediately stood up and began to walk to the staircase.

**“Why are you so mean to me?”** he asked before starting to walk up.

_ Because you broke my heart back in the eleventh grade. _


	3. Jeonghan didn't have a one-night stand. Right?

Jeonghan woke up in an unfamiliar bed to a massive headache and pain in his legs. Usually, that meant one thing: a drunken one-night stand.

But he felt that wasn’t what happened. Jeonghan had faint memories of the night before.

He remembered running away from his parent’s house to the bar. He remembered the red car heading straight for him and how he stood in place.  _ So that’s why my legs hurt. _

Jeonghan sat up and held his head.

**“Good morning,”** a soft voice spoke.

Jeonghan looked up to see a boy standing by the doorway of the huge bedroom. He was one of the men who’d picked Jeonghan up from the road.

**“‘Morning.”** He smiled at the man.  **“Sorry, what was your name again?”**

**“Jisoo or Joshua.”** He smiled back. **“It’s alright, I didn’t expect you to remember. Come on, let’s go get you breakfast.”**

**“I don’t really eat so early,”** Jeonghan said, embarrassed as he stood up. He noticed he was wearing a shirt that was slightly oversized and shorts.

**“But it’s nine in the morning.”** Joshua frowned.

**“I don’t eat until noon,”** he told him and stumbled against the doorway. Stupid legs.

Joshua only frowned harder but didn’t say anything. Jeonghan followed him down the stairs to where another man was sitting at the table, focused on whatever was on his Macbook Pro. He looked up for a second to glare at Jeonghan with dark eyebags and flaring nostrils before looking back at his screen.  _ What’s up with him? _

**“Good morning to you too,”** Jeonghan said. He noticed Joshua had disappeared -fucking great.

**“Whatever,”** his low and raspy voice replied.  **“Your breakfast’s on the counter.”**

**“I don’t eat this early,”** Jeonghan said.

**“The fuck you mean you don’t eat this early?”** He looked up to take an airpod out and that was when Jeonghan noticed how familiar he looked but couldn’t put his finger on it.  **“Then what do you want?”**

**“I want to know where my clothes and phone are.”** Why was this guy so rude?

**“Your clothes are in the wash and your phone’s also on the kitchen counter. It’s dead though and I don’t have an Android charger.”**

Not surprising from the guy with a whole mansion.

**“Then can I use your phone to call someone?”**

**“Ask Joshua, my phone’s in use right now.”** He put his airpod back in and turned his attention back to the MacBook screen.

Jeonghan rolled his eyes and went to look for Joshua. He found the boy on a sofa in the small library.

**“Hey, can I use your phone?”** Jeonghan asked. **“Mine’s dead.”**

**“Yeah, of course.”** The boy handed it to him, open to the calling app.

Jeonghan didn’t know who to call.

His parents were out of the question. His sister wouldn’t care in the slightest. It’s not like he had any friends who would either.

Finally, he decided to call his second-cousin, Mingyu.

After three rings, the boy finally answered.

**_“Hello, who is this?”_ **

**“It’s your favorite second-cousin, Jeonghan.”**

**_“Yeah, what’s up?”_ **

**“Long story short, I kinda got hit by a car and staying at a fucking rude stranger’s house without any Android chargers so I need another place to stay.”**

**_“I’d love to but I’m kinda dealing with a huge lawsuit and even Minghao’s stressed about it. I don’t think he’d be happy with anyone staying over. Some guy got killed last night at the restaurant.”_ **

**“Mingyu, what the fuck?”** Through the corner of his eye, he saw Joshua choke on his water at the mention of his name.  **“Stop killing customers.”**

**_“It wasn’t me!”_** Mingyu whined from the other side. **_“Oh, and my new waiter went missing.”_**

**“Oh, so you killed the waiter too? Have a mafia boyfriend really changed you.”**

**_“I did not! And Minghao is_ ** **not** **_part of the mafia. Jun’s really sad about the waiter’s disappearance too.”_ **

**“Tell Jun I said hi.”** Joshua seemed to have spilled the rest of his water and stood up to look for napkins.

**_“I will. Sorry I can’t pick you up though.”_ **

**“It’s alright, don’t worry about it. Bye, goodluck on your lawsuit.”**

**_“Thanks, bye to you too.”_ **

Jeonghan hung up and waited for Joshua to return to give his phone back.

**“What was that about?”** He pointed to the wet spot on the boy’s legs where the water had spilled.

**“Nothing,”** he answered, his face turning red. Something told Jeonghan it wasn’t nothing.

Then the library door opened and in walked the man from earlier. With his hair now brushed and eyebags less visible, he looked even more familiar.

**“Joshua, I need your help with-”** he noticed Jeonghan standing next to him and he practically  _ snarled. _ **“Oh, it’s you.”**

**“Yeah, it’s me.”**

**“Anyways, Joshua, can I get help on this physics thing?”**

**“You’re still in school?”** Jeonghan asked. The man looked around Jeonghan’s age.

**“Mind your own damn business, Yoon Jeonghan.”** That sentence was what reminded him who this man was. He never told either of them his full name. That sentence was the same one he’d heard many times in high school from the boy who was always in detention.

_ ‘What are you writing?’ Jeonghan would ask. _

_ ‘Mind your own damn business, Yoon Jeonghan,’ he’d say. _

_ ‘How do you have six detentions in one week? There aren’t even six days-’ _

_ ‘Mind your own damn business, Yoon Jeonghan.’ _

**“Of course, Seungcheol.”** Joshua walked to him. Seungcheol was his name.

Jeonghan decided to stay in the library for the next two hours. When Joshua and Seungcheol were eating lunch, he was eating breakfast. After breakfast/lunch, Seungcheol bought Jeonghan a charger and called him broke. How Jeonghan wanted to punch him and then break his iPhone XR.

Joshua helped Seungcheol with his schoolwork, leaving Jeonghan alone in the large house.

After exploring the maze-like hallways, he went into the library and almost sat on a black cat. Jeonghan let out a scream, which made both Joshua and Seungcheol come running into the room.

**“The fuck you so loud for?”** Seungcheol asked, irritated.

**“Are you okay?”** Joshua asked at the same time.

Both boys glanced at each other before Seungcheol sighed and apologized.

**“I’m fine, just got surprised,”** Jeonghan answered. **“You have a cat?”**

**“My** **_parents_ ** **have a cat,”** Seungcheol said. “ **I’m a dog person.”**

**“You’re a furry?”**

**“Shut the hell up. Her name’s Noire.”**

**“You named a black cat ‘black’ in French?”** Joshua asked and walked over. **“Can I carry her?”**

**“My mom named her, I don’t know French. Yeah, she’s chill.”**

Joshua went over to pick the cat up and walked out of the room. Seungcheol sat on the sofa right before Jeonghan could. He looked up with a smirk when Jeonghan glared at him.

**“Yes, Yoon Jeonghan?”**

**“How do you know my last name?”**

**“What do you mean? I just met you last night.”**

**“You just said it!”**

**“No idea what you’re talking about.”**

Frustrated, Jeonghan tried to say something but couldn’t. There was nothing to say.

**“Cat got your tongue?”** Seungcheol asked and stood up, smirk never leaving his face.

**“No, shut up. Why are you so rude to me?”**

**“I’m like this to everyone, don’t think you’re special.”** He walked out of the room, leaving Jeonghan annoyed.

All suspicions of him being the same Seungcheol from school were now gone. Even though high school Seungcheol was what the teachers called a “problem child,” he was a nice boy. He always tried his hardest in his classes and helped Jeonghan whenever he could. This Seungcheol was nothing like him.

Later, he walked into Seungcheol laying on his couch, pillows over his face. By his feet, sat Joshua on the Macbook Pro.

**“What’s going on?”** Jeonghan asked.

**“I’m trying to get Seungcheol a job while he tells me about how his gang members kicked him out,”** Joshua said.  **“At the same time, I have to get myself a job because stuff went down in my old one.”**

**“Seungcheol was part of a gang?”**

**“I was their** **_leader!”_ ** Seungcheol whined when he took the pillow off his face for a few seconds.

**“Everyone’s in a gang nowadays.”** Jeonghan sat on the arm of the couch and looked at the laptop screen.  **“If you guys want, I could try to get you a job at my cousin’s restaurant.”**

**“Kim Mingyu’s restaurant?”** Joshua asked.  **“No way I’m going back there.”**

**“What, why?”**

**“Long story. Seungcheol could work there though.”**

**“Not sure if Minghao would be happy with that. Don’t different gangs generally hate each other?”**

Seungcheol sat up immediately and his eyes widened.

**“Xu Minghao?”** Seungcheol asked. **“Street name The8?”**

**“He’s the restaurant owner’s boyfriend. You know him?”**

**“Do I know him?”** Seungcheol snorted.  **“He was the one who replaced me!”**

**“Small world we live in,”** Joshua said and focused his attention back onto the screen. He was no longer looking at websites but was playing Minecraft.

**“Fuck this, I’m just going to go join the mafia and expose the whole gang.”**

**“Someone’s salty.”** Jeonghan grinned.

**“Shut the hell up, Yoon Jeonghan.”** There it was again.

**“Are you sure you met me just yesterday?”**

**“I literally have never seen you before.”**

**“Shut up, I just found a desert temple,”** Joshua interrupted.

**“A what now?”**

**“Nothing.”**

**“Could you find me a job too?”** Jeonghan asked. He needed money if he was going to officially move out of his parents’ house rather than hide from them twice a week.

**“Yes, just make me do everything,”** Joshua said but still opened the browser again.  **“It’s because I’m American.”**

**“We literally didn’t even know that,”** Seungcheol said and looked at the screen.

They spent the rest of the day looking for jobs until Jeonghan fell asleep on the couch.


	4. Joshua (thinks he) isn't gay

**"Jeonghan, it's time to wake up,"** Joshua called from the doorway. It was basically his job now to wake him up, seeing Seungcheol paid almost no mind to the boy. Even though he just met the boy, Joshua was not letting him wake up at almost ten everyday.

 **"I don't wanna,"** Jeonghan grumbled from the bed. But shortly after, the groaning stopped. **"How the hell did I get into bed?"**

 **"Seungcheol carried you."** Joshua remembered Seungcheol cursing about things such as _"what if my parents come home and see this lazy bitch"_ or things Joshua couldn't understand like _'he never changes._ " Didn't Seungcheol just meet him?

Joshua was astounded at his strength but what else would one expect from a former gang leader? He also remembered how truly big Seungcheol's arms were and how the veins in his upper arm bulged, causing then to contrast against his skin. They were the reason Joshua took longer to sleep than usual.

 **"Seungcheol did?"** Jeonghan laughed like he didn't believe it. **"Was it because he hates people sleeping on the couch?"**

How did he know that?

Once they were both downstairs, Jeonghan immediately flopped down onto the couch, one leg hanging off the edge. Joshua looked around and saw Seungcheol was nowhere to be seen. His Macbook Pro was still on the table, meaning he was still at home. Joshua went into the kitchen and began to clean after Seungcheol's aggressive pancake-making. _"The fuck does he mean he doesn't eat so early?"_ he kept muttering. _"I'm gonna make him eat 'early.'"_

That was when Joshua learned Seungcheol had _no_ chill.

 **"Get your crusty foot off my fucking couch that I** ** _just_** **cleaned!"** Seungcheol shouted from the other room. Leave it to Jeonghan to somehow annoy the man by just breathing.

The American walked back into the living room to see a fuming Seungcheol -with a sleeveless shirt, mind you- and a smirking Jeonghan, with two feet on the arm of the couch this time.

 **"Leave him be,"** Joshua said. **"Don't you have classes today?"**

**"They don't start until twelve and it's only eight. Now, can you** **_please_ ** **make him get his feet off my couch?"**

**"Jeonghan, could you please remove your feet from the couch before Seungcheol burns everything down and come get your breakfast?"**

**"I told you, I don't eat this early,"** Jeonghan whined and stood up.

 **"You're going to eat early,"** Seungcheol said and walked to the table to open his laptop. **"Who told you it was healthy to eat breakfast at noon?"**

 **"Just one pancake,"** Joshua insisted.

Jeonghan frowned but sat at the table and began to pick at his pancakes, which earned him multiple glares from Seungcheol. Joshua wasn't going to lie, he had no idea why Seungcheol seemed to hate Jeonghan but still let him stay.

 **"Seungcheol, I'm cleaning your mess of a house,"** Joshua announced once he took a good look at the living room. Both couches were absolute messes, the plants were dying, and the paintings were all crooked.

 **"You don't have to."** Seungcheol looked up with a frown. **"Don't do extra work for yourself."**

**"Too bad, I'm cleaning your house."**

**"Jisoo, no-"**

It took two hours but Joshua had finally finished cleaning and organizing Seungcheol's mansion, leaving him relieved. Though the man kept insisting he didn't and could just hire a maid, the American did it anyways. He hated messes and maids were unreliable.

When he was done, he noticed Jeonghan had only eaten half of the pancake. He sighed and threw it out before opening Seungcheol's laptop. The second he opened up to his own email address, there were already three interview offers.

 _What a surprise,_ he thought before standing up to tell the others. He hadn't checked whose they were.

 **"Jeonghan, Seungcheol, we got job emails!"** he shouted, not in the mood to look for them.

 **"Already?"** Seungcheol asked as he walked down the stairs. He still hadn't changed from the sleeveless shirt and it was bothering Joshua. He didn't know why the sight of his arm muscles bothered him as much as they did. Nor did he know what definition of "bothered" he was.

 **"Oh, goodie!"** Jeonghan exclaimed as he ran down the stairs, pushing past Seungcheol. It was the most active Joshua had ever seen the boy.

**"'Excuse me' is a nice word!"**

**"That's two words."** Jeonghan went to Joshua's side and looked at the laptop screen.

Seungcheol rolled his eyes and walked to the other side of the American. Joshua opened the emails and saw two were for him and one was for Jeonghan. None were for Seungcheol.

 **"Sorry, Cheol,"** Joshua apologized.

 **"Stupid college diploma that I don't have,"** he blamed. **"Whatever, I don't need a job yet, my parents are rich."**

Jeonghan seemed to have muttered something but no one asked about it.

 **"Anyways, what place wants to interview me?"** Jeonghan asked.

 **"Dunkin' Donuts,"** Joshua said. **"Oh, like one of mine."**

 **"Oh, really?"** Jeonghan grinned and sat on Joshua's lap -which only surprised Joshua, instead of annoying him as it usually would- and opened the emails again.

Through the corner of his eye, Joshua noticed Seungcheol was fuming. He thought nothing of it, since he was always mad when it came to Jeonghan. Seungcheol then rolled his eyes and began to walk away.

 **"We can work together, woah!"** Jeonghan sounded excited. Joshua had to admit, his childlike energy and smile was adorable.

 **"Of course,"** he chuckled.

 **"Thanks, Joshua! Jisoo?"** Jeonghan frowned. **"Do I call you Joshua or Jisoo?"**

**"Either works."**

**"I'm gonna call you Joshuji!"**

**"The** ** _fuck_** **is a Joshuji?"** Seungcheol stopped walking and turned around with a bothered expression.

 **"Joshu from Joshua and Ji from Jisoo,"** Jeonghan explained.

Seungcheol then went to pack his Macbook in its back and threw on a sweater. Finally.

**"Joshuji, are you gay?"**

**"Oh my god, Jeonghan, you can't just ask people if they're gay!"**

**"Mind your own business!"** Jeonghan then turned himself in Joshua's lap, which made the boy's heart begin to start racing. **"Anyways, are you gay?"**

 **"Definitely not,"** Joshua answered. The second he'd said it, images of Seungcheol's veiny arm muscles flashed through his mind, as well as memories of Jeonghan in an oversized shirt and shorts. _At least, I think I'm not._


	5. Seungcheol becomes a hotel owner against his will

Seungcheol thought he was going to go insane. He hated having Jeonghan over but he didn't know why he let him stay. All he did was look for attention and mess Seungcheol's house up. Did he feel bad? He never felt bad for people.

 _Or was it because you don't want to lose Jeonghan again?_ he unconsciously asked himself. Not a possibility. He never missed or even thought about him for the past seven years. Yet, it didn't make sense.

It didn't even make sense to him why he was always mad at Jeonghan whenever he did the smallest thing. It was the same way he had been seven years ago. It didn't make sense as to why he would always be furious whenever he remembered how touchy the boy was with Joshua. It wasn't like he hadn't gotten over his high school crush many years ago so it definitely wasn't jealousy.

Seungcheol sighed and parked his car in the student parking lot. He'd have to worry about it later.

 **"Hey, S.Coups!"** the voice of Kwon Soonyoung called his street name when he was on his way to the car. Most people called him by that name unless they were close. Usually, if anyone heard that name, they'd be afraid.

No longer would that happen.

**"Yeah, what's up, Soonyoung?"**

**"You coming to Minhyuk's party later?"**

With the stress of Jeonghan and Joshua, he'd forgotten it was the weekend tomorrow. Was he really going to leave the two at his home by themselves?

**"Of course."**

Joshua was responsible. Right?

 **"This party's so boring,"** Seungcheol muttered and finished the rest of his glass. There were barely any people and it wasn't worth his time.

 **"Honestly,"** a voice said from next to him. **"It's so lame."**

Surprised, Seungcheol looked to his side and saw an absolutely _beautiful_ girl next to him. After a while, he found out her name Hayoung and she was two years younger than Seungcheol. She was in her senior year of college but they shared the same interests. He didn't know how it happened but Hayoung was in the passenger's seat of Seungcheol's car.

After he'd pulled Hayoung inside, their lips had immediately connected. Her lips were soft and tasted like watermelon. Seungcheol cursed the fact there were other people in his house and guided the girl upstairs.

Unfortunately, when he'd opened the door to his room, he saw Joshua sleeping on his bed with his hand in Jeonghan's hair. Fortunately, they both had their clothes on or Seungcheol would've thought they'd done something on _his_ bed.

To the third guest room it was.

Right before Seungcheol could fall asleep, he heard the loud doorbell ring. Somehow, it hadn't woken Hayoung up and Seuncgheol sighed in relief. He stood up to put his pants and sweater on and walked out to the hallway.

Unfortunately, it had apparently woken Jeonghan as well.

 **"Who is it?"** he asked.

 **"No one that you know and no one of your business,"** Seungcheol answered and walked down the stairs.

Jeonghan, being the annoying bitch he was, followed him, despite being told not to.

Ignoring him after he decided the boy was way too stubborn, he went to open the front door.

 **"Hi, it's your favorite cousin,"** Lee Chan greeted as he walked inside.

 **"What are you doing alone at eleven?"** Seungcheol asked. He loved his cousin (not that he'd ever admit it) but he didn't really want him visiting right now.

 **"Dad dropped me off and said I'm staying here for a week."** Chan began to walk into the living room, where Jeonghan was sitting on the couch.

_The fuck is this, a hotel?_

**"Who are you?"** both Jeonghan and Chan asked at the same time.

 **"Oh my god, he's adorable, I'm adopting him,"** Jeonghan immediately said. Who did he think he was?

  
**"You are** **_not_ ** **adopting my cousin, Chan."**

**"Shut up, Seungcheol,"** Chan said. **"He stans Five Seconds of Summer, so I stan him."**

Seungcheol looked at Jeonghan's hoodie with Chan's favorite music group.

 **"I'm a parent now!"** Jeonghan exclaimed.

Seungcheol wondered how much worse his life could get.


	6. Jeonghan's first day as a male mother

Jeonghan spent half the night talking to Chan about Five Seconds of Summer and bothering Seungcheol. Sure, Seungcheol had a problem with everything he did but this time, Jeonghan was purposely trying to annoy him. He found it funny when Seungcheol would glare at him with flaring nostrils but then looked over at Chan. Jeonghan realized it was because he didn't want to be a bad influence and he took that to his complete advantage.

Jeonghan wouldn't stop asking questions.

 _"Why are there so many guest rooms?"_ There were originally just two guest rooms but Seungcheol's two older brothers moved out.

 _"Are you gay or straight?"_ He wasn't gay but didn't say he was straight.

 _"Why'd your gang kick you out?"_ He told Jeonghan to go to sleep.

He was lucky Jeonghan got tired.

When Jeonghan woke up, it was half an hour past noon. It was surprising Joshua hadn't woken him up earlier but then a thought came to him. What if Joshua had left?

Jeonghan had completely forgotten Jisoo had an actual place he lived in and didn't have to wear Seungcheol's clothes every other day.

Jeonghan sadly went down to find Joshua was sleeping on the couch. He was relieved but wondered why he was asleep.

He walked to the kitchen to get his breakfast, saying hi to his adopted son on the way, but stopped when he saw a girl hugging Seungcheol from behind.

 **"Who are you?"** Jeonghan asked.

 **"His girlfriend,"** Chan answered, walking up to his side.

**"Ew, a het."**

**"I'm a het."**

**"Besides you. Anyways, it's nice to meet you, Seungcheol's girlfriend."**

Chan held back a laugh and walked out of the kitchen.

 **"We're not dating,"** Seungcheol said and handed Jeonghan his eggs and toast. **"Her name's Hayoung."**

 **"Hello, uh..."** She didn't look happy to see Jeonghan.

**"His name's Jeonghan and Jeonghan needs to go eat his late breakfast."**

Jeonghan frowned but took the food to the table, where Chan was sitting. The boy was playing Minecraft on Seungcheol's laptop _-why did everyone play Minecraft?_ Jeonghan ate his toast while looking at the screen. Chan was fighting off one of the tall creatures _-Endermen, were they?_

After he was done, Chan closed the screen and looked up at Jeonghan.

 **"What do you think of Hayoung?"** he asked.

 **"I don't know, I just met her,"** Jeonghan answered. **"But I do get bad vibes from her."**

Jeonghan always knew whether a person was a good one or not by how he felt when he first met them. Hayoung wasn't on the good side but he didn't want to judge.

 **"I don't like her at all,"** Chan said. **"Whenever she looks at me, she's mad."**

**"Why?"**

**"No idea. And she's so clingy with Seungcheol even if they 'just met' and Cheol won't pay attention to me anymore. You know how crazy that is?"**

**"No, I don't know."** Jeonghan smiled. Chan didn't like Hayoung because she was getting more attention than him? He was just like Jeonghan.

Chan explained how Seungcheol would _always_ give him attention. He knew he was his favorite person and had been ever since they were kids. He was mad that all changed because of some girl Seungcheol hooked up with.

 **"And what's worse is that she's going to be visiting** ** _a lot!"_** Chan sighed. " **I don't want to be around her!"**

**"It's a big house, I think it'd be easy to avoid her."**

**"I guess you're right. And it's not like I** **_have to_ ** **stay inside."**

Just then, Joshua walked into the dining room, looking like the walking dead.

**"Hi, Joshuji."**

**"Hey, Jeonghan."** Joshua smiled **. "Hi, Chan."**

**"You met my child?"**

**"Chan, yeah."** Joshua walked over and took the laptop from him. **"Where's Seungcheol?"**

**"In the kitchen with Hayoung."**

**"Oh, ew, nevermind then."** Did no one like Hayoung?

 **"Whatcha doing?"** Jeonghan asked and looked over at the computer screen.

 **"Checking for job emails."** Joshua had been stressed about his work all day yesterday. He couldn't even sleep without Jeonghan comforting about it. **"I woke up after you left and couldn't fall asleep again."**

 **"It's only been two days, stop worrying so much."** He closed the laptop. **"I'm sure you'll get a job somewhere."**

 **"I hope,"** he sighed. **"No way am I going back to live with Hansol in that small apartment."**

 **"You know Hansol?"** Seungcheol appeared behind Jeonghan. **"As in Chwe?"**

**"How did you-"**

**"I'm going to murder him."**

That was all he said before walking away, Hayoung not far behind him. Jeonghan highly doubted they weren't dating.

 **"Seungcheol wants to murder a lot of people,"** Chan noted.

 **"Anyways-"** Joshua was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. That sound gave Jeonghan the biggest headache.

 **"It's ya boy!"** the voice of Jeonghan's second-cousin rang out.

 **"Mingyu?"** Jeonghan asked and walked to the door. Sure enough, Mingyu was standing in the doorway, Junhui by his side.

 **"Jeonghannie!"** Junhui exclaimed and ran past Seungcheol to hug him.

 **"Jeonghan, hi!"** Mingyu smiled, holding a suitcase. It was then when Jeonghan remembered he'd asked Mingyu to bring him clothes that fit him. **"Didn't know you were staying at Seungcheol's."**

 **"You know each other?"** Seungcheol and Jeonghan asked at the same time.

 **"Why do you have a suitcase?"** Seungcheol asked. **"Please don't say you're staying over..."**

Once they all sat inside, Mingyu explained how he'd been friends with Seungcheol for a long time. It was how his boyfriend had been introduced to his gang (which the former leader was very mad about now). Then the two decided they would catch each other up on their lives just like how old people did.

Junhui and Jeonghan began to explore the mansion because there was always something new the latter hadn't seen. Today, he discovered that there was a door in the library that led to the roof.

 **"Should we go?"** Jun asked.

 **"Hell yeah."** Jeonghan ran up the stairs and saw Joshua staring off at plain fields. So that's where he was. **"Hey, Joshuji!"**

Startled, Joshua turned around but smiled when he saw Jeonghan. He went to sit by the boy's side.

 **"Why do you run so fast?"** Junhui whined from behind and sat by Jeonghan's side but noticed Joshua. **"Who's that- Joshua? You're alive?"**

The American's eyes widened when he saw Jun.

 **"You know each other?"** Jeonghan asked.

**"Yeah, he's the waiter who went missing. We thought you died!"**

**"Surprise?"** Joshua laughed, nervously.

 **"I'll let you explain then."** Jeonghan stood up and walked back downstairs. Joshua worked at Mingyu's restaurant? Why'd he leave?

He walked around the large house by himself, constantly hearing Mingyu and Seungcheol's laughter. It was surprising to hear Seungcheol laugh as Jeonghan hadn't even seen him smile. He walked out to the backyard, where Chan was reading a book. Behind him was Hayoung, talking on the phone.

Jeonghan sat by the boy's side and looked at the book he was reading. It was a manga Jeonghan wasn't familiar with.

**"What are you reading?"**

**"Fairy Tail."** He closed the book and looked up at Jeonghan. **"About this world where everyone has different powers and the main character is this broke blonde who doesn't know anything."**

 _Big mood,_ Jeonghan wanted to say and subconsciously ran his hands through his own blond hair.

**"Sounds cool."**

**"It is,"** Chan said and held out the book. **"Do you want to read it?"**

**"Sure, after you finish."**

**"I'm almost done anyways."**

**"You read manga?"** Hayoung interrupted with a frown.

**"Yeah."**

**"Manga's gross."**

**"Lady, no one was talking to you."** Chan stood up and Jeonghan did the same, trying not to smile at the woman's expression. **"Anyways, Jeonghan, you wanna come to the park with me?"**

 **"There's a park?"** he asked as they walked back inside.

**"Today I'm gonna give you a tour of this neighborhood then."**

And so he did. Though many of the houses were large, Seungcheol's place was the biggest in the area. A few blocks away was a street of very fancy restaurants where one meal was probably more expensive than Jeonghan's whole life.

Finally, they'd reached the park. Chan showed him the dog park and the lake first before going to the garden. Unlike the rest of the park, the garden barely had any people. It was almost winter so there were barely any flowers.

 **"This place is really pretty during the spring but I have aller-"** Chan stopped and looked behind Jeonghan and his eyes widened as a blush appeared on his face.

 **"What is it?"** Jeonghan turned to see a boy who looked around his age.

 **"Oh my god, that's** ** _Soonyoung_** **, mom, hide me."** He hid behind Jeonghan, who didn't know when he became female but went with it.

 **"Who-"** he began before realizing. **"Didn't you say you were het?"**

**"Mayhaps I lied."**

**"Aww, Channie has a crush."** Jeonghan laughed.

 **"No!"** the younger began but when Jeonghan raised an eyebrow, he sighed. **"Mayhaps. But he's dating** ** _Lee Jihoon."_**

Lee Jihoon?

It must've been a coincidence but...

Lee Jihoon was the name of Jeonghan's third ex. The only one he actually missed.

 **"Hey, Chan!"** Soonyoung noticed.

Chan looked like he was ready to die then and there.

 **"Oh, hi, Soonyoung,"** he finally said.

**"How are you?"**

Jeonghan decided to give the boys space and walked off. Meanwhile, the name _Lee Jihoon_ kept repeating in his head.


	7. extinction of the heterosexuals

**"Why'd you leave?"** Jun asked the second Jeonghan left. Joshua had been hiding from that exact question.

 **"Because..."** _Because I killed a guy._ **"It was a personal thing."**

 **"Oh, okay then."** The boy smiled as he watched the sky begin to go orange. **"Are you going to come back? After the lawsuit has been resolved, of course."**

**"I'm not so sure..."**

**"Why not?"** Junhui pouted and looked over. **"Did you get bored after the first day?"**

 **"No, it's not that."** Joshua chuckled but then paused. **"Did you say lawsuit?"**

 **"The night you disappeared, a man was found dead with a large cut in his throat,"** Junhui explained. **"His family sued Mingyu because the detectives couldn't figure out who killed him."**

 _Oh, shit._ Joshua felt bad for causing such a mess but it _was_ self-defense.

**"I'm sure it'll be over soon though. When it is, we'd love to have you back."**

Joshua looked to see the boy was smiling widely, genuinely meaning what he said. The American couldn't help but smile back. No one ever said anything like that to him. Of course, he'd gotten used to it but it surprised him. Never had anyone said they enjoyed having him around.

**"I'll think about it."**

**"Yay!"** Jun cheered and hugged Joshua.

The two walked back inside to see Mingyu shirtless on the floor with his wrists held together by Seungcheol, who had on a black sleeveless shirt. Curse those sleeveless shirts for making Joshua question his sexuality.

**"What the-"**

**"Mingyu thought he could beat me in a fight,"** Seungcheol explained with a grin. **"Just because he's taller and has bigger tits."**

"What the actual fuck,"Joshua muttered in English.

 **"What's that English phrase again?"** Junhui asked. "Tall ain't..."

"All?"

 **"Yes, that!"** He clapped his hands together. **"Hansol always said that to me."**

 **"Fucking Hansol,"** Seungcheol said as he let go of Mingyu's wrists to put his shirt on. Both went to sit on the couches and the foreigners followed, Junhui sitting on the arm of one next to Joshua.

 **"Is that Joshua?"** Mingyu asked.

At the same time, Hayoung walked into the room. _Why was she still here?_ All morning, she had been throwing glares at Joshua and complaining about how he couldn't clean (even though she made the biggest messes).

 **"Cheollie, I'm hungry,"** she complained and held onto the man's arm. She annoyed Joshua by being so touchy towards Seungcheol but he didn't know why. It didn't even affect him.

 **"What do you want to eat?"** Seungcheol stood up to walk to the kitchen.

 **"Who was that?"** Junhui asked.

 **"Hayoung,"** Joshua said. **"Anyways, where's Jeonghan and Chan?"**

 **"They said they were going to the garden in the park,"** Mingyu said as he checked the time on his watch. **"We should be going."**

 **"Already?"** Jun frowned. **"I didn't say bye to Jeonghannie or Channie."**

**"Do you want to visit them at the park then?"**

Junhui nodded as both of them stood up. Joshua did the same.

 **"Could I also come?"** He didn't want to be alone with Seungcheol and his hookup.

 **"Sure, why not?"** Mingyu smiled. **"If you explain why you went missing from the restaurant after your first day."**

On the way, Joshua gave him the same reason he'd told Jun. Mingyu believed it and said the same things Jun had. Joshua was happy that he was invited but at the same time, he didn't know how Jeonghan would feel. He told him they'd work at the same place and he didn't want to disappoint Jeonghan. But when he thought about it...

If Jeonghan was Mingyu's cousin, why didn't he work at the restaurant?

When they'd arrived at the garden, Jeonghan was sitting alone on one of the benches. Chan was talking to another boy, not very far. Mingyu and Jun went to Chan first as Joshua went to sit on the bench. He must've caught him by surprise, seeing Jeonghan practically jumped in his seat.

 **"Oh, hey, Jisoo"** Jeonghan greeted in a quiet voice. It was surprising that he'd said Jisoo's real name. Something seemed suspicious.

**"Who's Chan talking to?"**

**"His crush."** Straight people were going extinct, himself included.

Both watched as Mingyu and Joshua talked to Chan and his crush. They must've known his crush, seeing how much they were laughing.

 **"Oh, also,"** the American began. **"I might go back to working at Mingyu's restaurant and I wanted to ask if..."**

 **"If I wanted to work with you?"** Jeonghan finished.

The other boy nodded. He was nervous to hear the answer -what if Jeonghan had a personal grudge against one of the employees? Or worse?

 **"Well, there's just one reason I haven't worked there yet..."** Jeonghan looked nervous. **"I'm scared I'll see my parents because they love-"**

His sentence came to an abrupt stop. He looked scared. It was then when Joshua understood Jeonghan had problems with his parents. Was it why he was drunk and suicidal the night they met? Was he running away? People didn't usually like to open up to others about that. Especially not to someone they met three days ago.

 **"I understand,"** Joshua said and held onto Jeonghan's hand. **"I get it if you don't want to say anymore and I get it if you don't want to come to Mingyu's. Though I'd love if you did, I fully understand. When you're ready, if ever, you can."**

Jeonghan looked up at the boy who was smiling. A soft smile appeared on his face as well.

**"Thank you."**

Mingyu and Junhui walked over to them and the boys who were sitting stood up.

 **"We'll be leaving now,"** Mingyu said as he hugged Jeonghan. **"It was nice to see you both again."**

 **"Nice seeing you too,"** Joshua replied.

 **"Bye, Junnie, bye, Mingyu."** Jeonghan smiled.

 **"Bye!"** Jun smiled widely. **"Oh wait, I have a question!"**

**"Hmm?"**

**"Are you and Joshua dating?"**

Joshua felt his face heat up and looked away.

 **"No, Joshuji's straight,"** Jeonghan answered. Joshua didn't know how true that was anymore.

Joshua waved as the two left.

 **"Wanna walk back together?"** Jeonghan held out his hand.

**"What about-"**

**"Chan told me to go without him but I don't want to get lost by myself."**

**"Then let's walk."** Joshua chuckled and held Jeonghan's hand.


	8. from a home to a hotel to a party house

Everyone _hated_ Hayoung, which Seungcheol was well aware of but couldn't understand. Sure, she was a bit clingy but besides that, she was a really nice person. It's not like Seungcheol was any different with his friends. Hayoung had told Seungcheol it made her sad and left out.

But when he tried to tell the others, no one took him seriously. Instead, everyone claimed he was "whipped" for Hayoung, which wasn't true. He didn't have any romantic feelings towards her. They didn't believe him, which led to them being distant. Joshua and Jeonghan were always happy and full of laughter when they were talking to each other but stopped whenever they knew Seungcheol was around. His cousin always stayed closed off in his room and only ever came out to eat or talk to Jeonghan.

It annoyed Seungcheol how he was being ignored in his own house but it probably ignored Hayoung more that she was always getting dirty looks.

So to make it up to her, Seungcheol had asked her out on a date. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to leave the house with Chan and Jeonghan but he decided Joshua was responsible enough.

 **"I'm sorry about the boys,"** Seungcheol said while waiting for their food. **"I doubt they hate you, just really unused to you."**

That was a lie. Chan hated new people, especially if they were taking Seungcheol's attention away from him. Jeonghan was what you'd call "heterophobic," mainly towards straight females. He didn't know much about Joshua but he knew he had a strong dislike for Hayoung.

Hayoung didn't need to know that.

 **"It's alright."** She smiled, which Seungcheol found beautiful. She was already pretty but her smile had nothing on her usually expressionless face. **"I just wish they wouldn't ignore me all the time."**

 **"They're mostly nice people, they just have to get used to you."** He paused. **"Not that they'll be staying for long anyways."**

Chan was going to be leaving in a couple of days when his father came back from work. He didn't really know about Joshua or Jeonghan. He didn't mind Joshua and enjoyed his company but Jeonghan was different.

He didn't _hate_ Jeonghan but he didn't like him staying either. To avoid it being awkward, he had to act like he didn't know the boy. Though he stopped being annoying ever since Hayoung came along, just his presence bothered Seungcheol.

He didn't know if it was just himself but he was always annoyed with old crushes. And he was more annoyed by Jeonghan than the rest for a reason he still didn't know. Was it because Jeonghan was the first person who reminded Seungcheol he had feelings but then destroyed them? Was it because after him, Seungcheol couldn't crush on anyone anymore?

**"When does the lazy one leave?"**

**"Excuse me?"** Seungcheol blinked twice before processing what she said. _I_ know _she's not calling any of them lazy._

**"The gay one."**

Seungcheol didn't like how she said the word 'gay' as if it tasted bad in her mouth.

 **"Jeonghan?"** he frowned.

**"Yes, him. All he does is sleep all day."**

**"Because he doesn't sleep at night,"** Seungcheol remembered. The boy had the most messed up sleep schedule for as long as he could remember. Even now, he'd see Jeonghan awake at two in the morning and he'd have to tell him to go to sleep. Every night, he always gave the same explanation: **"He stays up helping Joshua with work without Joshua actually knowing."**

" **Oh, I just assumed..."**

 **"Then stop assuming before knowing the full story."** Why was he so defensive all of a sudden? Wasn't he just thinking about how much he didn't like Jeonghan?

The rest of their lunch was silent but both soon forgot about what happened. Seungcheol took her around the neighborhood, which she seemed to enjoy. He found it cute how interested she was and all the questions she asked. When they passed by the museum, Seungcheol learned she was one of the few people who enjoyed history, just like him.

Even if she wasn't perfect, Hayoung was amazing.

When it began to grow dark, Hayoung said she had to go home. On the way, they talked about how both wanted to stay as friends-with-benefits since neither really wanted a committed relationship. They held hands until Seungcheol dropped her off and went back to his own house, feeling relaxed for the first time in a while.

The second Seungcheol opened the door, that feeling was immediately replaced with chaos. Young Blood by Five Seconds of Summer was blasting and Soonyoung's screaming could be heard.

_Soonyoung?_

When Seungcheol walked in, he saw Soonyoung and Chan jumping around and screaming, cushions all over the floor. It made him wonder when his house had gone from a home to a hotel to a party house. On the couch, sat Joshua with the laptop and Lee Jihoon.

_Why was Jihoon here?_

Jihoon and Seungcheol were best friends since they were nine and ten. They even tried dating when they sort-of liked each other but it didn't work out well. After that, they'd grown distant, which left Seungcheol upset for a long time.

But then he made new friends. One day, one of them introduced him to Jeonghan, making him forget Jihoon. Love was a strong word but Seungcheol was very close to falling in love with him.

Until he walked into Jeonghan and Jihoon making out. On the day he was going to tell Jeonghan he liked him.

After that, Jeonghan began ignoring Seungcheol.

To this day, Seungcheol was still salty.

 **"What is the meaning of this?"** Seungcheol raised his voice and the music stopped.

All eyes were staring at him, Joshua and Soonyoung's full of fear, meanwhile Chan and Jihoon didn't care. It was the reaction he'd expected.

 **"Welcome back?"** Soonyoung said.

 **"We told them not to,"** Joshua said, pointing to himself and Jihoon.

 **"I tried calling you to ask if I could invite them over but you wouldn't pick up,"** the youngest said.

 **"As long as you didn't break anything, you're fine."** Seungcheol sighed when the music began to play again. He couldn't stay mad at Chan, no matter how much it annoyed him.

 **"Oh, by the way,"** Joshua said. **"I made mac and cheese dinner and only you and Hannie haven't eaten yet."**

 **"Where is he?"** Seungcheol asked, putting aside the fact he didn't know what kind of food Joshua was talking about.

**"Sleeping."**

Seungcheol went up the stairs to wake him up, seeing he was the only one who could actually accomplish such a difficult task. After pulling the sheets off of the whining boy, he dragged him down the stairs. It reminded him of the amount of times he had to do that in high school on days they were partners for a project -which was a _lot._

 **"Why are you playing music so loud?"** he muttered and began to look around. **"It's good music but-"**

His eyes widened when his eyes made their way to the couch.

 **"It really was you,"** he whispered. **"Jihoon."**

He ran back up the stairs and the slam of the door could be heard.


	9. pistachio ice-cream and private therapy

_Why'd it have to be Jihoon?_ Jeonghan wondered in his blanket burrito. He couldn't stop thinking of all the times they'd spent together and how they ended up the way they were.

Jeonghan was who confessed first. He had liked the boy for months and had finally gathered the courage to tell him. He was surprised to hear Jihoon liked him back, though he shouldn't have been. Even though Jihoon came off as cold to his other friends, he never seemed to have any problems with Jeonghan.

What really surprised him was when Jihoon pulled him down by the collar and kissed him. They made out against the wall of the high school but didn't make their relationship official.

They went on dates after that but neither ever asked to date.

Until Jihoon took Jeonghan to his favorite coffee shop and asked him to be his boyfriend. That day, Jeonghan was the happiest he'd ever been.

 _"If we ever break up,"_ Jihoon had said. _"which won't ever happen, I promise I won't replace you. Promise me, too?"_

What a foolish promise but Jeonghan still tried to keep his end.

Jihoon always understood him, unlike any of his other relationships. Jihoon understood Jeonghan's mental health problems and never judged him for them. Instead, he tried to help the boy endure. He distracted Jeonghan from any problems he'd been having. When he was with him, nothing else mattered. They were both happy.

Until Jihoon had begun to grow distant. He ghosted Jeonghan and ignored him in school. It hurt. It hurt a lot.

Jeonghan didn't say anything about it. He regretted that decision everyday.

Then the day came when Jihoon said the three words he knew were coming.

_"Let's break up."_

Jeonghan didn't know why he let it happen. They agreed to stay friends but deep inside, he knew that wasn't going to happen. He kept hope though.

The next day, Jihoon moved away.

That was the last Jeonghan had seen him.

Of course, until a few minutes ago. It shouldn't have affected him since they broke up years ago but it made him upset how he'd moved on. Everyone moves on, so why can't he?

He stayed inside his blanket and listened to the laughter coming from downstairs. He didn't know for how long but he heard a knock on the door. It was then followed by a louder knock -more like a bang, a groan, the jiggle of the doorknob, a louder groan, jiggle of keys, and lastly, the doorknob being turned. Standing in the doorway was an irritated Seungcheol, holding a bowl of mac and cheese.

 **"Eat your food** ** _then_** **cry."** He put the bowl down on the bedside table and walked out.

After he left, Joshua and Chan walked in. The American sat beside Jeonghan while Chan stayed standing.

 **"You okay?"** Joshua asked.

 **"Do I look okay?"** Jeonghan asked and sat up to take the macaroni and cheese bowl.

 **"Definitely not,"** Chan answered. **"What's the matter?"**

Jeonghan was hesitant to answer but decided they had the right to know. He told them Jihoon was his ex-boyfriend and how he missed him.

They didn't judge.

 **"You don't need him,"** Joshua said.

Jeonghan knew he was trying his best to help but it always annoyed him whenever someone said that. They never knew what he'd been through and how Jihoon helped him through it. He didn't know if he'd ever find someone who treated him the same way Jihoon did.

 **"Yeah but if you still miss him,"** Chan began. **"We could always get them to break up and have a happy ending for both of us."**

 **"Don't be a homewrecker,"** Seungcheol said sternly from the doorway. When had he gotten here?

 **"I was only joking."** The youngest frowned. **"Anyways, are they still here?"**

**"Yeah, I'll go kick them out, come say bye."**

Jeonghan was left alone. He was surprised people were actually trying to make him feel better. It was rare to find anyone who cared about others, especially people who cared about someone they barely knew. Even if he felt as if they were pretending, it made Jeonghan a bit happier.

Jeonghan finished his food and left it on the nightstand. He sighed when he remembered how he'd do the same when Jihoon made him food whenever he was sick. Everything reminded him of Jihoon.

**"Hey."**

Jeonghan looked up to see Seungcheol walk into the room, holding some type of ice cream container.

**"Hi?"**

**"Do you like pistachio ice cream?"**

Jeonghan nodded -it was his favorite- and the ice cream container was thrown at him, along with a spoon. He flinched when it landed beside him and looked up with a frown.

 **"Do you not want it?"** Seungcheol raised an eyebrow.

 **"Yes, but..."** Jeonghan opened the container to see it was completely full. How did Seungcheol know what ice cream flavor he liked? How did he even know he wanted ice cream? He knew his moping was bothering Seungcheol but he appreciated the fact the man wasn't making it obvious. **"Nevermind. Thanks."**

 **"It's nothing."** Seungcheol leaned against the wall. **"Are you still upset about Jihoon?"**

**"Maybe..."**

Seungcheol sighed and walked over. He pulled out a stool from under the bed and sat down before taking a deep breath.

**"Why?"**

_Why are you interrogating me?_ Jeonghan wanted to ask.

**"Just because?"**

**"That's not a reason."** _Why do you care?_

**"Well, I guess because Jihoon cared about me."**

**"Don't Jisoo, Chan, Mingyu, and Junhui also care about you? And I'm sure there are other people, too."**

**"Yeah, but..."** Seungcheol was making Jeonghan question himself, which he didn't appreciate. **"Jihoon cared in a different way... he loved me."**

 **"I'm sure there are others who love you. And anyways, wasn't your breakup years ago?"** _What are you, a therapist wannabe?_

**"Yeah... I guess I'm just upset how he got over me and then there's Soonyoung-"**

He hadn't meant to say that out loud. Jeonghan didn't want Seungcheol to know that.

 **"Alright, listen up."** Was he going to get yelled at and called dumb? **"You miss Jihoon and you're jealous of Soonyoung, right? Those are human emotions everyone feels unless you don't have a temporal lobe. But you can't let yourself be** ** _this_** **upset after such a long time. You have to learn to accept the fact that people get over you, the same way you'll get over someone. No matter how close you were to a person before, there's a chance they'll forget you."** His voice wavered. **"Instead of trying to get everyone to like you and moping if they don't, focus on yourself and on the people who actually care about you. Don't let irrelevant people make you feel like trash if you tell yourself you're better than that."**

Seungcheol let out a breath and broke eye contact while Jeonghan took a moment to process all those words. He knew he was right but he also knew it was going to take him time to actually listen to them.

 **"Damn, who hurt you?"** Jeonghan chuckled.

 **"You,"** he almost whispered. Yet his expression remained so stoic that Jeonghan thought he'd imagined it.

**"What?"**

**"Hmm?"**

**"What do you mean** **_I_ ** **hurt you?"**

**"When did I say that?"** He looked genuinely confused.

**"Nevermind."**

It was only until half an hour after he'd left when Jeonghan remembered a name. Choi Seungcheol.

Jeonghan went up the roof and watched the sunset.

_Choi Seungcheol._

The boy who always sat alone at lunch despite his large friend group, until Jeonghan sat by his side. He rarely spoke whenever that happened but always had a small smile. Then whenever Jeonghan would be alone, he'd come over.

He rarely spoke but his company was always enough.

He also listened whenever Jeonghan needed to rant and gave him the best advice.

Jeonghan didn't remember how but they eventually lost contact. Seungcheol hung out with his friends while Jeonghan stayed with Jihoon.

_Was that the same Seungcheol?_

Jeonghan ran back inside. He had to apologize to Seungcheol. He didn't exactly know what for but it was a gut feeling. When he got downstairs, though, the man was nowhere to be seen.

 **"Where's Seungcheol?"** he asked Joshua and Chan, who were playing Minecraft -as expected.

 **"Went to go visit the police academy,"** Joshua answered without taking his eyes off the screen. **"After the mafia didn't want to take him in."**

 **"Seungcheol has the mindset of** 'can't join 'em, beat 'em' **like the saying goes,"** Chan said.

**"That's not how it goes -DON'T FALL INTO THE LAVA!"**

Jeonghan sighed and went back into his room to finish his ice cream. He couldn't stop asking himself the same question:

_Was he actually Choi Seungcheol?_


	10. Joshua does NOT have a police kink

Joshua couldn't get the image of Seungcheol in a police outfit out of his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about the tight uniform on his built body or how he'd hold a gun with a handcuff around a wrist. Curse his vivid imagination.

He left Chan to fight the wither by himself and walked to the roof. For him, it was the only calming place in the whole house.

Joshua opened the door to see Jeonghan sitting on the edge.

 **"Hey, Hannie!"** Joshua called but the boy didn't respond.

He walked ahead and sat down next to him. Jeonghan's eyes were staring at the cloudless orange sky.

 **"What are you thinking about?"** Joshua asked.

Jeonghan glanced over before looking back up at the sky.

**"I think I knew Seungcheol."**

**"What do you mean?"** Joshua imagined how awkward that would be for everyone. But it made sense, seeing how Seungcheol would call Jeonghan by his last name, when none of them ever said what their last names were.

 **"I think we were friends in high school but I'm not fully sure if it's the same Seungcheol. High school Seungcheol wasn't a dick."** He chuckled before looking down at the road.

 **"I wouldn't say Seungcheol's a dick,"** Joshua defended. **"He just has issues."**

 **"Yeah, you're right."** Jeonghan smiled and his eyes wandered, full of reminisce. **"But I'll admit it also might be my fault."**

**"Hmm?"**

**"I was the one who began ignoring him, despite how close we were. I guess he does have the right to be mad at me."**

**"After so long?"**

**"Some feelings aren't easy to get over."** Jeonghan looked over and stood up. **"Let's go back inside."**

Joshua nodded and followed him to the kitchen. Chan was nowhere to be seen and he had left the game open to a dark cave.

 **"I can't believe him,"** Joshua muttered and sat in front of the laptop.

 **"How do you even play Minecraft?"** Jeonghan day in the seat next to him.

 **"You've never played?"** The American was surprised that one had never played the best game in existence. **"Do you want to learn?"**

Jeonghan nodded and Joshua created a new world. He taught Jeonghan the survival basics but the boy seemed more interested in blowing things up in creative mode.

 **"Wow, I should've listened to Jihoon when he said it was fun."** Jeonghan never took his eyes off the exploding village houses.

 **"Jihoon played Minecraft?"** Jisoo was actually more surprised that Jeonghan has brought up his ex's name.

 **"Jihoon loved Minecraft."** Jeonghan's hands stopped moving and covered his face. _Ah shit, he's sad again._

At the same time, Chan walked to the table and closed the laptop.

"Distract him," he mouthed. "Before he starts crying."

"How?"

**"Hey, Joshua, you're American right?"**

**"Yeah, why?"**

**"Tell us about it. Jeonghan's interested in California, especially Los Angeles, isn't that, right?"**

**"Yeah."** Jeonghan looked up and rubbed his eyes.

 **"Hey, that's where I'm from,"** Joshua said. **"It's a cool place but it's really hot."**

 **"Isn't it on fire all the time and has many earthquakes?"** Chan asked and sat on the table.

**"Yes, but we don't talk about that. We talk about the famous people from there."**

Joshua told them stories of how he met celebrities and how a lot of people from everywhere would visit.

 **"Is it close to New York?"** Chan asked.

Joshua blinked twice before remembering not everyone was from America.

 **"New York's on the other side of the country and my roommate's from there."** Joshua smiled when he remembered how many times they'd argue over which city was the superior one. He'd have to call Vernon soon.

 **"Jihoon always wanted to go to New York City,"** Jeonghan whispered and put his head down on the table.

 **"This ain't about hi—oh no,"** Chan said before seeing Jeonghan was crying. His ex must've meant a lot to him if _everything_ reminded him of him.

 **"Story time's over, Chan get the ice cream,"** Joshua said as he stood up. **"Jeonghan, let's go to the couch."**

The boy complied and was soon laying on the sofa with a blanket over him. His head rested on Joshua's lap and the American couldn't stop himself from playing with the soft blond hair.

Chan walked into the room pulling a wheeled chalkboard— _Seungcheol's mansion had everything_ —with terrible drawings on it.

**"Now that you have settled down, would you like to listen to my plan to break Jihoon and Soonyoung up?"**

**"No, no one wants to hear your plans to be a homewrecker."** Joshua sighed and rested his hand on Jeonghan's shoulder.

 **"I appreciate the effort though,"** Jeonghan chuckled as Chan pouted and dragged the large chalkboard back.

Jeonghan yawned when Joshua went back to playing with his hair.

 **"Does me playing with your hair make you tired?"** he joked, though he knew some people were like that.

 **"It actually does,"** he laughed and his eyes began to close. **"Keep doing it."**

Joshua smiled and did as he was told. He found Jeonghan's laugh and quiet yawns cute. After a while, he stopped when he heard the blond muttering.

 **"Hmm?"** Joshua asked.

**"Said I'd date you if you weren't straight."**

Joshua almost choked on his own spit, not sure if he heard him properly. Before he could ask, though, Jeonghan was crying softly.

 **"What's wrong?"** he asked and stroked Jeonghan's hair to calm him down.

 **"I broke the promise,"** he whined.

Before Joshua could ask what he meant, Seungcheol's voice could be heard.

 **"Look at the freebies I got from—"** Seungcheol called out but halted. **"Oh my god, why's he crying?"**

Joshua looked up to see almost exactly what he'd been imagining. Seungcheol was wearing a fake police officer uniform and was twirling handcuffs around a finger.

Curse Seungcheol for making him question his sexuality but also his police kink that he _didn't_ have.

"Jihoon again," Joshua mouthed.

Seungcheol sighed and signaled for Joshua to stand up. The boy complied and let Seungcheol sit in front of the couch.

**"Yoon Jeonghan, look at me."**

Joshua decided to give Seungcheol space and went to look for Chan. Meanwhile, he repeated to himself that he was straight and neither Seungcheol nor Jeonghan could change that.


	11. Seungcheol's just salty

Seungcheol didn't even have time to put the handcuffs away before Jeonghan started crying again. The boy had always been sensitive so he knew how to handle it. Without mentioning Jihoon, he tried to comfort the boy while stroking his hair. It always worked in the past and it still worked to this day.

Although, Seungcheol has forgotten it also made him fall asleep. He sighed when he saw Jeonghan was sound asleep in the middle of a sentence.

He stood up, ready to flop into his bed but he couldn't even reach the staircase before the doorbell rang. Seungcheol groaned before waking to the door, seeing his uncle was on the other side.

 **"Chan, you're going home!"** he shouted before opening the door. **"Hello, Uncle."**

Chan ran out the door, slamming it behind him, confusing Seungcheol. The boy would usually complain about having to leave so what was up today?

 **"Anyways,"** he said to himself as he put the handcuff around his wrist out of boredom.

He walked back to the living room to see Jeonghan was awake again—must've been the doorbell. Joshua was by his side again and they were awfully close. _Why_ were they so close? Seungcheol knew it wasn't his business but he always felt mad whenever he saw their skinship. It was lot more than average strangers who'd met less than a week before.

 **"Oh, Seungcheol,"** Joshua called before he could try to sneak away. **"Can we talk?"**

**"Yeah, of course."**

Joshua stood up and walked over. Seungcheol wondered what he had to talk about.

 **"I know I said I was only going to stay a few days but would you mind if—"** Joshua's voice trailed off as if he was nervous.

 **"I said you can stay for as long as you want."** Seungcheol smiled. He meant it. He loved having Joshua stay because not only he'd made Seungcheol's house feel less empty, he was generally fun to be around. **"I know you're stressed out over a job."**

**"Yeah, I promise I'll leave when I have enough money to get my own place. I can even pay you back if you want-"**

**"Don't worry about it."**

**"Thank you so much,"** he said with the widest grin on his face. Seungcheol liked seeing him happy. **"Would you mind if I brought some things from my apartment to stay?"**

**"Of course not. Take my car if you need."** _Since when did I trust people this much?_

**"Thanks, you're the best."** He put his sweater on and walked out, taking the keys on his way out.

 **"I know I am."** He smirked before beginning to walk up the stairs.

That's when he remembered he had a sad man on his couch. Seungcheol internally sighed before walking to the couch, where Jeonghan was lying and staring at the ceiling.

 **"Do you want to go upstairs?"** he asked, noticing how uncomfortable he looked. **"Onto you know... a bed?"**

 **"Yes but... no energy..."** Jeonghan whined.

Seungcheol huffed before squatting down in front of the sofa. _I'm going to regret this_ , he thought. _Why am I doing this?_ he asked himself before picking the younger boy off the couch. He ignored the protests as he carried Jeonghan in a somewhat princess carry up to the guest room. Seungcheol threw him onto the bed before sitting on the chair beside it at the same time Noire jumped out from under the bed and onto his lap.

 **"You still sad?"** he asked as he pet the cat.

 **"No,"** Jeonghan answered, even though he clearly was. But Seungcheol knew not to force him to talk. **"Just tired."**

 **"Do you need anything?"** Seungcheol asked.

 **"Yes, I need you to be nice like you are right now all the time."** Jeonghan grinned. **"This side of you is** ** _way_** **better than your wannabe mafia boss attitude."**

 **"Today's an exception."** He held back a smile as Noire jumped onto the bed to cuddle up besides Jeonghan. **"I'll be a mafia boss one day."**

**"Sure, you will, Choi."**

_What?_

Time froze for Seungcheol, who replayed the past moment in his head to make sure he heard right.

 **"What'd you call me?"** Did Jeonghan actually remember him?

 **"Wait, did I say that out loud?"** Jeonghan's eyes widened. **"I'm sorry, I thought you were someone I-"**

Seungcheol didn't even know his mouth was open until the other boy was staring at it.

 **"Are you?"** Jeonghan asked. **"Are you Choi Seungcheol?"**

Seungcheol didn't know why he was taking so long to reply. He didn't know why it affected him so much. His brain had stopped functioning when he heard his name come from Jeonghan's mouth after so long.

 **"Yeah,"** he finally spoke. **"I guess I am."**

 **"Why didn't you just tell me?"** he frowned. **"Is that why you're so mean to me?"**

 **"I didn't think you'd remember me."** He wasn't even sure if he had wanted Jeonghan to remember him.

 **"You're the boy who was always in detention."** Jeonghan smiled and Seungcheol couldn't even yell at him. **"But you always sneaked out just to sit with me whenever I was alone at lunch."**

 **"You think I snuck out just for you?"** Seungcheol scoffed but them a small smile appeared on his face against his will. **"Yeah, you're right."**

 **"Of course, you did, you were such a softie."** Jeonghan laughed as he left his hand on the black cat's back **. "We were like best friends, weren't we?"**

A sharp pain tugged at Seungcheol's heart. That is exactly what they were -though neither ever confirmed it- but why did it hurt him? Was it because he wanted more back then? Was it because Jeonghan forgot? Or maybe because of their memories went to nothing?

For Seungcheol, nothing ever lasted. Especially not friendships.

 **"We were..."** He looked down at Noire, who seemed to _love_ Jeonghan.

**"Can I -Could I ask a question?"**

**"Hmm?"** he looked up at the nervous boy.

**"Why'd we grow distant? Is that why you hate me?"**

The sadness Seungcheol had formerly felt was replaced with anger. _What kind of a question was that?_

 ** _"'Why'd we grow distant?'"_** he scoffed and raised his voice. **"I fucking wonder why, totally not the fact that you began to ghost me out of nowhere after you met Jihoon. Not the fact that you ignored me in school and seemed to purposely avoid me, making me think I did something wrong. Of course I didn't think you'd gotten tired of me or scared of being seen with the 'weird bad kid' and replaced me. Nor did you make me think that I was a bad friend even though I tried, despite always thinking you secretly hated me. Do you know how fucking hard I tried to get you to like me? I never even knew if you actually considered me a** ** _friend."_**

Seuncgheol's voice cracked on the last word, which was when he realized he was close to tearing up.

 **"Yes, that's why I hate you,"** he whispered before walking out of the room. He ignored Jeonghan calling his name until he was on his bed. He held his head in his hands and let out the tears that had been building up for years. Years of the pain he kept hidden behind his stoic, intimidating image.

He tried to stop himself from crying any more but the tears kept coming. It was the first time he'd cried in a while and he didn't even know it was possible. He was crying this much over Jeonghan? Who would've thought?

They finally stopped when the door to his room opened and Noire ran onto his lap. Seungcheol quickly tried to wipe his tears away and buried his face into the cat's fur.

 **"I'm sorry,"** Jeonghan's voice spoke from in front of him. **"I knew it was my fault but I didn't know what I did wrong. I truly am sorry and though I know there's no way to go back in time and reverse that, I hope you know I really did enjoy having you as a friend."**

Seungcheol looked up, no longer caring if Jeonghan saw his swollen red eyes. The blond in front of him looked sincere. It felt strange; being the one comforted, rather than comforting for once.

 **"I'm sorry for everything,"** Jeonghan continued. **"But I'm especially sorry that I never let you know how important you were to me."**

A moment passed and they only stared into each other's eyes. A purr came from the cat.

 **"It's alright,"** Seungcheol said with a small smile. **"Don't worry, I'm over it all."**

Jeonghan nodded and looked down at Noire.

 **"Well, anyways, how's everything?"** Seungcheol asked.

 **"It's fine, I guess."** A lie, seeing the reason they met again was because Jeonghan was drunk and sounded suicidal. " **Just parents, as usual."**

 **"Oh."** Seungcheol remembered how the Yoons were. Not quite the most pleasant people. His father was always in jail and his mother was drunk and out with other men. When they were home though... Jeonghan never liked to talk about it.

 **"Hey, remember your 'promise?'"** Jeonghan chuckled.

Seungcheol looked down and smile when he remembered his promise to save Jeonghan from his mom one day. Though Jeonghan said it as a joke, he should've known Seungcheol wasn't one to forget his promises. Nor was he ever one to go back on them.

 **"I'd say you sort of did,"** he continued.

 **"Even though I yell at you and get pissed off all the time?"** Seungcheol raised an eyebrow.

 **"Even though."** Jeonghan held his arms out for Noire, who jumped right into them. She wasn't a very loyal cat. **"Also, why'd you want to be a police officer anyways? I know it wasn't just 'the movies' like you said in freshman year."**

 **"Alright, it's not."** Seungcheol chuckled, remembering how much he used to aspire to be an officer. After he was kicked out of the gang, the aspiration began to slowly come back. **"It's a dumb reason, though."**

**"I don't care, I want to hear it."**

**"Fine, you stubborn bitch."** he smiled and knew Jeonghan wouldn't take the swear the wrong way. **"Don't tell anyone but... I always wanted to be a hero."**

He might as well have whispered the last part and could feel his cheeks heat up. He really did always want to be a hero; to help and save people. A police officer was close enough.

 **"That's adorable,"** Jeonghan stated and had the widest grin on his face. Normally, anyone who called him anything close to cute would get beat up but he wasn't even mad. **"You'd be a great hero."**

 **"Thank you."** It was the first thanks he'd meant in a while.

They sat in silence for who knows how long, besides the occasional meow or purr from Noire.

**"Hey, Seungcheol?"**

**"What is it?"**

**"Can we... restart? Like, forget everything in the past, because I don't want you to hate me and I don't-"**

**"Never,"** Seungcheol bluntly said and looked up at Jeonghan. The boy looked sad and confused until Seungcheol spoke again. **"But we can fix things."**


	12. Netflix and chill? Minecraft and ligma

The two spent the rest of the night taking care of Noire and watching movies on Seungcheol's Disney Plus account under a blanket. Jeonghan was surprised the man even agreed to it and even more surprised when in the middle of watching Frozen, he put his arm around Jeonghan. It made him feel like a child again and he couldn't stop smiling.

After the movie was over, Seungcheol went down to get their pizza from the oven they'd made together. It felt as if they'd been friends living together rather than two people who met after a long time a few days ago. He even almost forgot how much Seungcheol hated him, though the man claimed he never did.

Once they were done with the pizza, Jeonghan was asleep before they could finish High School Musical: The Musical. It was the first time in a while that he slept peacefully.

In the morning, Seungcheol was gone but Noire was asleep at Jeonghan's feet. Everything that happened the night before felt like a dream. He was almost convinced it was a dream; Seungcheol crying but then being nice after was too good to be true. But the dirty plates with pizza crust left over told Jeonghan it had actually happened.

He smiled and got off the bed, careful not to wake the cat up. He walked downstairs, not knowing what to do so early, and was about to lay on the couch for the next hour. He couldn't though, because there were boxes blocking the path and clothes on the couch.

Before he could wonder, Joshua walked out of the kitchen looking as if he hadn't slept at all. He was muttering something to himself. He was so tired that he didn't even notice Jeonghan waving right in front of him.

 **"Joshuji!"** he called.

That's what finally got the boy to look up. At first, he only squinted as if he didn't recognize Jeonghan. Soon though, he smiled weakly and walked over.

 **"You're up early,"** the American said. **"You must've slept well."**

 **"Sure did,"** Jeonghan said. **"Unlike you."**

 **"Don't remind me."** He groaned and began to walk to the staircase **. "Come upstairs with me."**

 **"I** ** _just_** **got down,"** he whined but followed him to his room. Joshua fell face-first onto the bed and Jeonghan only chuckled and sat by his side. The boy rolled over onto his bed and pat the spot next to him for Jeonghan. He complied and lied beside the boy.

 **"Alright, so what happened?"** Jeonghan asked.

 **"Let me** ** _tell you,"_** he started and put a pillow over his face. **"So I went back to my old apartment last night to get some of my things, alright?"**

 **"Mhm."** Jeonghan didn't know that but he was going to pretend like he did.

 **"But a bunch of my roommate's friends were over -as always- and they started interrogating me. They kept asking why I left and worst of all,** **_where_ ** **was I staying. So I had to make up a lie and told them I was at my cousin's because I can't tell them about Seungcheol."**

**"Why not?"**

**"Han, they're his former gang members."**

**"Oh."** He understood that telling them that would probably get Joshua beat up and people breaking into Seungcheol's house.

 **"Yeah, and they wouldn't let me leave for a long time until like three in the morning so I was already too tired to drive. But I tried and sort of just 'scratched' Seungcheol's car so I had to go get that fixed and that took about an hour."** He took the pillow off his face. **"The repair lady drove here though so nothing else would happen."**

 **"Your night sounded eventful."** Jeonghan chuckled and turned on his side to look at Joshua, who was staring at the ceiling. From so close, he noticed all of the boy's features and saw he even had an empty piercing. His side profile was also really nice.

 **"Tell me about it."** Joshua smiled and turned to face him. **"So did anything happen while I was gone."**

 **"So much happened."** He could feel his smile widen before he told Joshua everything. Well, almost everything. He told him how Seungcheol admitted to knowing him in high school and how they got over their differences. He left out the part with the crying -Seungcheol would kill him if he told anyone- and watching movies together.

**"Well, I'm glad you two made up."**

**"Yeah, so am I."**

They only stared at each other before Joshua smiled as his eyes closed. Jeonghan decided to leave him alone and walked back downstairs (walking up and down the stairs gave him more exercise in the last few days than all the physical education classes he took combined). He walked into the kitchen and sat down on the counter. _It's so quiet,_ he thought.

Then he realized Chan was gone.

 _So_ that's _why everything has been feeling off._

Jeonghan jumped off the counter with a frown; it was going to be lonely without Chan. Bored out of his mind, he walked around the mansion hoping to find something to do. Noire was still asleep and most of the rooms were locked except for Seungcheol's. Though he knew he'd get yelled at for going through his stuff, a man's gotta do what he's gotta do when he's bored. That's when he found Seungcheol's laptop on the bed.

Jeonghan looked around and jumped onto the large bed. When he opened the laptop, there was a password on it.

 _Fuck,_ he thought and rolled over on the bed. He saw a post-it labelled "passwords" with a list of numbers. _Which one was the laptop password?_

Jeonghan went through the first three until he saw a very familiar number.

_951004._

Jeonghan's birthday.

He told himself it was just a coincidence but put it into the laptop. It was correct.

Jeonghan was surprised but unlocked the laptop.

And he wished he hadn't.

Jeonghan closed the screen immediately when he saw a video of straight people doing the dirty. _Gross_.

After a moment of gathering his dignity, he opened the laptop again and closed the window. He wished to erase that from his memory as he opened up Minecraft. Maybe Joshua got him addicted to the game.

He didn't know how long he'd been punching trees and trying to build a house but eventually, Joshua walked into the room. Jeonghan hadn't even noticed until the boy was sitting by his side and took the laptop from him.

 **"You have to turn the logs into planks first, dummy,"** Joshua told him.

**"Well, excuse me for not having the blessing of the Minecraft gods."**

Joshua chuckled and built the house for him. Jeonghan only rested his head on the boy's shoulder and watched in awe.

**"Looks like someone decided to stop blowing shit up."**

**"Okay, shut up,"** Jeonghan said and shut the screen. **"Enough Minecraft, talk to me."**

 **"About?"** Joshua put his head on Jeonghan's lap.

 **"I don't know, anything."** Jeonghan began to play with the boy's hair, making a heart with the front strands.

 **"Have you heard of** ligma **?"**

**"Wh-"**

"Ligma balls,"he deadpanned.

A moment passed until Joshua realized Jeonghan didn't understand what he assumed what a funny joke. The American smiled but it wasn't one of his usually innocent smiles. It was a rather devilish one, causing Jeonghan to wonder if he really was as innocent as he looked.

 **"Would you care to explain what you just said?"** Jeonghan asked.

He regretted asking after Joshua explained the joke with the straightest expression one could have. Though Jeonghan was always known for his inappropriate jokes, he was concerned about what went on in America. As they explained each other's childish jokes, Jeonghan felt a sudden wave of nostalgia. He was also reminded of the person who taught him most of the jokes: Seungcheol.

 **"Seungcheol?!"** Joshua was in disbelief. **"No way..."**

 **"He's changed a lot,"** he said. **"I still don't believe it."**

 **"I'm just trying to imagine** ** _Seungcheol_** **as a bad kid who always made** 'yo mama' **jokes and now I can't get that out of my head."**

 **"I heard my name."** Seungcheol's voice came from the doorway as Jeonghan and Jisoo both looked over at once. The man's hair was slicked back and a couple of buttons on his shirt were undone.

 **"Uh, welcome back?"** Jeonghan said as Joshua sat up.

 **"Why are you in my room?"** he sighed, ears turning red. **"Nevermind, I don't care, get out."**

Jeonghan and Joshua looked at each other, confused, but complied. When they left the room, though, they understood the second they saw Hayoung. It made even more sense when she was dragged into the room and the door shut behind them.

 **"Bro, did we just cockblock him?"** Jeonghan asked.

**"I believe we just did."**

The two looked at each other before bursting out laughing, knowing fully well Seungcheol and Hayoung could hear everything.

 **"Did you see how mad he was?"** Joshua asked once he caught his breath.

**"His monkey ears went red."**

They glanced at the door before beginning to giggle again like children. Jeonghan had to admit he missed having fun and this felt great.

 **"Should we leave?"** he asked.

**"Sure, wouldn't want to ruin his stress relief time."**

They walked downstairs and left the house once they agreed to go to the park. Joshua claimed he knew his way around but they almost ended up lost and had to take the long way to the park. Jeonghan insisted on going to the garden, even if there were almost no flowers.

 **"Han, I'm allergic,"** Joshua whined, surprising him. Today was just full of surprises from the American. And though whining always annoyed him, Jeonghan found the childishness cute.

 **"We won't be there for long,"** he said.

They walked to the garden, passing the field of dogs.

 **"Aww, they're so cute."** Jeonghan stood by the fence as the other tugged at his sleeve.

**"They are but I'm allergic."**

**"What** **_aren't_ ** **you allergic to?"**

**"Cats and peanuts."**

**"You allergic to people?"**

**"Indeed I'm Kim Minkyu."**

**"Kim Mingyu as in my cousin?"**

**"Kim Minkyu as in the main character of I Am Not A Robot. You should watch it."**

**"What if I don't?"**

**"Then I'm gonna force you and we're gonna watch it together."**

**"Bet."** Jeonghan felt himself smile when he imagined Joshua's arms around him under a blanket as they watched the drama. **"Now let's get to the garden, hurry up."**

Once again, the garden was empty but there were a few white roses. Jeonghan bent down by them to feel them. Flowers always made him happy, especially white roses. Sure, they represented death and grief. But Jeonghan always loved them.

 **"Someone really likes flowers,"** Joshua said.

 **"Yeah, I do."** Jeonghan chuckled and stood up. **"Should we head back though?"**

 **"Why not?"** Joshua smiled.

On the way back, they held hands, got lost and had to call Seungcheol to tell them directions —even though they knew they could use Google Maps. They both agreed there was no one more annoying than the two of them.

 **"Guess who's back!"** Jeonghan shouted after Joshua unlocked the door. No response was heard so the two walked in and ran upstairs. Seungcheol's door was open and they could see Hayoung and him were sleeping. Jeonghan noticed they weren't even facing each other before going into his room, jumping onto the bed.

 **"I'm tired,"** Joshua said and began to walk out of the room. **"I'm gonna go nap."**

 **"Where do you think you're going?"** he asked with a pout. He didn't want to be alone. **"Stay with me, Joshuji."**

The American looked mildly surprised but smiled and sat on the bed. He pulled the blanket over them and ran his hands through Jeonghan's hair. Jeonghan slowly grew tired and fell asleep in Joshua's arms.


End file.
